Long-term Lesbian relationships….lets start telling the truth

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Differences in desire

HEALTH WARNING: This is a really tricky one, and takes commitment to solve, but it can be done, and it isn’t the sort of thing that should split up a long term relationship if you love each other and want it to work. Are you ready?

Meaningless graphic to illustrate Are You Ready

Firstly let me clear up what I mean by differences in desire. To put it bluntly one of you wants to have sex more than the other. I am not going to deal with sexual tastes very much in this post…I will save that for another post as I think it is a slightly different but over lapping issue. This post will just be tackle the issue of differences in desire.

If you are reading this, you probably already have a problem. Differences in desire usually lead to some level of built up resentment for some or all of the following reasons;

You both feel like the problem is being caused by the other person

One of you feels rejected

One of you feels pestered and/or manipulated

You both feel like you have sex when you don’t want to

Your sex life has become less satisfying for both of you

You both feel like what you want is ‘normal’

You cant see a way out of this problem.

If you are feeling very resentful to your partner, or if your partner does not acknowledge that you have a problem, my advice would always be to seek some professional help. Find a sexual/relationship counsellor in your area and go along together for an initial chat. Either go privately or contact RELATE, I am not going to give advice on finding a counsellor, as I am not qualified to do that. I will say that counselling can seem expensive, BUT it is a lot cheaper (and more fun) than trying to split up and divide the assets of a relationship. Most relationship counsellors will work with Lesbian couples, and most will help you work through sexual problems but if you are in doubt drop them an email first to check out the kind of service they provide.

I know it seems obvious, but I am going to put your mind at rest, sexual counselling does not involve the counsellor helping you to have sex….It involves the counsellor helping you to communicate about sex. This does mean you will have to talk to the counsellor about your sex life, but not normally in any sordid details. They are usually very good at respecting your privacy whilst still allowing you to discuss the things that are bothering you. In my experience LESBIAN COUPLES ARE CRAP AT SEEKING PROFESSIONAL HELP.This drives me nuts. These people are professionals for a reason, they are good at breaking down the resentment and getting you to communicate again.

O.K…so lets say that you are not going to go to counselling because you want to try and sort it out yourselves first. Here are something to think about (these are just my opinion, so read critically;

It is O.K for someone to not need to have sex very often. It is also O.K for someone to want to have sex every day. Try no to use sex as a way to relax, for most people relaxation needs to come before sex. Don’t use sex as a way to validate yourself and your own attractiveness (if this is an issue for you, seek some help with working through those kind of feelings). Stop trying to change the other person, because you are very unlikely to succeed with that. I hope this goes without saying, but It is also never O.K to put pressure on someone to have sex with you when they don’t want to. So with all of that in mind, it can be helpful to agree a menu of sexual activity which you can do together and apart. Here are some suggestions

Masturbate separately.(One-way)

Masturbation can be a really fun and useful way to help someone with a higher sex drive feel sexually satisfied. It is totally healthy, fun and free…how many things can you say that about? Its O.K to want to masturbate every day. This isn’t weird or excessive. The person with a higher sex drive may want to do this privately.

Masturbate in the other persons company.(One-way)

This can be a good way to allow the person with a higher level of sex drive to let off steam, without putting pressure on the partner to ‘perform’. If you are the person with a lower drive, and you can get comfortable with this, it can help to pace out your life together. It can be nice to just watch, or just stroke and kiss while they do it, or ‘help’ a little, if you like this. This can be really intimate and a nice relaxed way to spend sexual time together.

Vibrate (One-way/ or two-ways if you feel like it).

When time is part of the problem, a vibrator usually gets to the point much quicker than any other method. So if you are the person that doesn’t fancy it tonight, why not watch them vibrate, or if you feel like it, vibrate for them (I have never mastered this technique…its really tricky to feel what is going on).

Touching one-way

This is only appropriate if you are both in the mood for some sexual contact, but can be good if only one of you feels that you want to work up to orgasm. I know this sounds funny, but orgasms take energy on both parts, and someone who is less sexually active might be happy to give more than they receive. THIS IS TOTALLY FINE, it doesn’t make you a greedy lover. Feeling like you have to reciprocate to be having ‘proper sex’ can just be about your ego. Let it go, let her give you pleasure, be happy.

Anything two-way

O.K, so this isn’t a sex manual, but really once you get into anything two-way then both of you need to be in a similar place in terms of having sex. If this is a time when the less sexually active partner wants to have sex it can feel a bit like the pressure is on.

Like you have to give her the most amazing orgasm ever, or she won’t want it again for a while. My advice here is, take your time. See my other post on making time for sex. The truth is, neither of you are going to enjoy it when you are stressed. Try not to get into a ‘tonights the night’ mentality, try to think, ‘she is ready for some intimate contact…it might happen tonight or it might happen in the next few days’. The best way to relax is to not get too goal centred. Make some time, turn off the phone and lock your door. Get naked (or not) and just enjoy each others bodies, see where the time takes you…don’t get too hung up on orgasms…they will come if you are relaxed and in tune.

Get realistic about your expectations.

If your partner has a lower sex drive than you you will need to adjust your expectations. Rather than thinking, ‘ I want to have sex every week’, you may need to think, ‘ I would like to do something off of the sexual menu every week’, and I would like play in a two-way fashion at least once a month. You may find when you add some of the other activities into the mix you are satisfied with the frequency.

So this shows that according to one survey, 90% of lesbians are not having sex more than twice a week. This also true of my experience of speaking to people. Lesbians are having sex much less frequently than this but when they are having it, its great. (See LBD:part 1 for more research results.

So in summary, enjoy each other in lots of different ways, don’t try and change each other, but be flexible to your different sexual needs and try to think creatively of ways to enjoy being together without having to compromise on what you want. Lose your ego as much as possible and deal with any built up resentment before it suffocates you both. Make time for your life together, including your sex life.